


Concert Air

by Saturning



Series: Concert Air [1]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Concerts, Drunk Kissing, Drunk Merlin, Festivals, First Kiss, Love at First Sight, M/M, Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2018-09-02
Packaged: 2019-06-22 14:45:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15584214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saturning/pseuds/Saturning
Summary: Arthur and Morgana were having the times of their lifes at this rock festival.Then a drunk Merlin almost ran Arthur over and his excuse took Arthur's breath away, quite literally.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so Hi!  
> This is my first fanfiction ever on AO3 and I'm really nervous. It's really not that good, but I was so excited to write something so here it is. I planned it to be only one chapter at first but it seems like there may be one or two more (I don't know, maybe even more than that?)  
> I'll try to continue as soon as possible!  
> Also: English is not my first language so feel free to point out any mistakes so I can correct them, thank you!  
> I hope you'll like it (although it's not so good) and enjoy! :)

The band was incredible. Arthur could feel the bass vibrate in his body, making him feel alive. The many bodies around him, dancing rhythmically to the music, didn’t bother him at all. Everyone enjoyed the loud rock music and sang along to their favourite songs, the atmosphere was overwhelmingly perfect.  
Arthur took a sip of his beer and looked over to his sister, who brought him here in the first place. The two tickets for the festival they were currently on were a birthday gift from Morgana and by god he never loved his sister more. Actually he loved her all the time, they have a really good bond, which is why Arthur didn’t invite one of his friends, but rather candidly asked his sister, if she would do him the honour and be his plus one for the amazing rock festival all their favourite bands play on. Morgana didn’t say that’s what she hoped for, when she bought the tickets in the first place, but it definitely was.  
She smiled back, excitement and happiness were sparkling in her eyes, probably mirroring his own expression.  
Arthur was never happier than right now.  
And then suddenly a boy came by. He tries to get past them with enough grace to not make a fool out of himself and to not fall over, so much was obvious. Unfortunately he didn’t have that kind of grace – he bumped into Arthur, so that he spilled his beer all over his shirt and almost fell over.  
“What the fuck man?” Arthur called out, before even looking up – he regretted it immediately. The boy in front of him was fucking _gorgeous_. A bit sweaty maybe, but still _stunning_. He looked exactly like the kind of hot guy you would expect to see on a rock festival like this one, dressed in purely black and green with ear piercings and tattoos. His dark curly hair was all over the place, his blue eyes seemed so fierce and at the same time so soft. And by _god_ his _lips_.  
“Oh – fuck – god – that’s – shit. I’m so sorry – fuck. There was less space than I thought and my balance is fucking shit – uh – sorry, shit.” The boy laughed nervously for a few seconds and almost lost his balance again.  
“Yeah, wasn’t able to miss that.” Morgana showed a slight smile, a little mischievous maybe. He just shook his head.  
“Don’t be mean, Morgs – I mean – it’s fine, really. Isn’t the first time and certainly won’t be the last time it happened.” Arthur couldn’t stop the idiotic bright smile on his face, the young man laughed again.  
“Yeah, I’m not usually that… uh, well not usually running people over. Kinda drunk, but what’s new on this festival?” Again a short laugh, Arthur felt his heart skip a beat.  
“Soo, let me at least make it up to you” He exclaimed.  
“Here, have my beer - I mean I spilled yours so that’s just fair and, uh as a proper excuse-” He paused for second, handing over the beer. Arthur almost thought, he lost his train of thought, but apparently he was just building up his courage or _whatever_ , because the man had grabbed him by the collar and pulled him in for a _kiss_. He was _kissing_ a complete stranger. A _gorgeous_ stranger. And he _fucking loved it_. He didn’t even know the man’s name, however he did know that his lips tasted like the beer he spilled and like something completely unexplainable. The stranger’s lips were soft and fitted perfectly on his own. Arthur found himself placing his free hand on the boy’s hips, while kissing him back just as passionate. Even though the band was still playing, he could hear his sister gasp next to him. But he didn’t care, why would he? Yes, it was crazy, but wasn’t it exactly the kind of crazy stuff you do in your twenties on festivals? And even if it wasn’t, it was _fucking fun_.  
The second the man separated from him again, and he couldn’t believe he was actually thinking that, Arthur missed him and his lips. He strongly resisted the urge to pull him back into a deep kiss, but he wouldn’t have had the chance anyway, because a young woman with caramel skin and beautiful brown curly hair suddenly came rushing in and pulled the man by the wrist, forcing him to look at her.  
“Merlin!”, she exclaimed relieved. “By the gods what are you doing? Where have you been? We were worried sick when you just disappeared! You are way too drunk to be walking around alone. Come on we’ll find Lance and Gwaine and get you sobered up.” She rushed the words down pretty fast and the young man, apparently named Merlin, didn’t seem to quite catch up with everything she said. Instead of waiting for an answer, she turned to face Morgana and him. “I’m so sorry, please excuse Merlin. He’s really drunk and wasn’t supposed to be here. I hope he didn’t bother you too much and – well – have fun!”  
Neither of them had the time to answer, Merlin was quicker to do so, probably because he finally progressed what the woman said a minute ago.  
“Yeah, Gwen fine, sorry, you’re right I’m coming, calm down!” he said a little sheepish, laying a calming hand on Gwen’s shoulder.  
“Cheers, was a good kiss, I hope that was a good enough excuse for spilling beer all over you.” He finally said to Arthur, grinning and a flush of red on his cheeks. Next moment he got already pulled away by his friend, waving the siblings good bye. Arthur heard her saying “ _what the fuck Merls_ ” while she dragged him through the crowd.  
Arthur just laughed. He completely forgot about the band still playing on the rather far away stage and so did Morgana. She just stood there defeated, mouth opened wide in shock and disbelief. Then she boxed against his shoulder.  
“ _Arthur!_ ” she screamed and Arthur just laughed again.  
“ _I know!_ ”, he shouted back, running a hand through his hair.  
“I can’t believe that just happened! How fucking high are the chances of _this_ to happen?” She was way too excited, but god Arthur was, too.  
“Not very high, I guess.” He just couldn’t stop smiling like an idiot.  
“And damn he was hot! How was the kiss? No wait, I don’t have to ask. I mean, I have eyes and I saw how into it you were. So his name was Merlin? I still can’t believe that happened. You are one lucky man, Arthur Pendragon.”  
“Stop talking so fast Morgana, you’ll forget to breathe.” Short laughter from both of them, before Arthur came to his senses. “But it’s not that big of a deal. It happens on festivals like this, doesn’t it? And I probably won’t see him again anyways.” He told her calmly, but he couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.  
“Don’t say that! It was fabulous and he was-”  
“Drunk. He was totally bashed. He wouldn’t have done it otherwise probably. It was fun and we can leave it now.”  
“Oh no no no no! Don’t give me that! You already _fancy him_!”  
“No I don’t! That’s crazy Morgana and you know it.”  
“Oh, common. I’ve never seen anything more gay than your snogging right there. If that girl didn’t come by, you would probably still be at it! Just admit that you want to see him again.” She raised her eyebrows and poked him in the side.  
“Fine” Arthur sighed, but couldn’t help a little smile. “Yes, I would like to see him again, but I doubt he would. I mean he was – is – drunk and will have forgotten about this or be embarrassed about it by next morning. So just drop it Morgana.”  
“Ugh, I hate this. Fine, I won’t go off trying to find him, but _if_ we do see him again, I _will_ make you talk to him, or do so myself.”  
“You are the worst, but at the same time the best.”  
He pulled his sister into a tight hug, she just smiled brightly and sighed a playfully bored “I know. So, wanna go back to our tent and fucking sit down for once? My legs are killing me!”  
And again he laughed.  
“Yeah, that’s fair it’s been like five hours.”  
While they made their way through the crowd of people to reach their tent on the camping ground, Arthur felt like he was walking on clouds and that was definitely not because of the alcohol.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here is the second chapter already! I am very surprised myself that I already managed to write another chapter. The story also has already over 200 hits and more than 25 Kudos which is just amazing! It makes me unbelievably happy!  
> I hope you'll enjoy this chapter, too, although it doesn't contain Arthur himself. But next chapter will be all about them!  
> Again - feel free to correct any mistakes I may have made :)  
> Enjoy!

Surprisingly, it didn’t take long until the Pendragon siblings saw Merlin again. Well, the first one to see him again was Morgana. She met him in the morning at one of the food trucks, where apparently neither of them got something to eat, but rather some actually cold water for once, a blessing in this burning weather. Morgana was the first to recognize the other, so she shamelessly walked up to him, pulling him out of the conversation he was having with another man, by asking “Merlin, right?” very loudly.  
Merlin almost choked on his water. He slowly turned around facing Morgana with a sheepish look on his face, quickly handing the bottle of water to the other man.  
“ _Fuck_ ”, he mumbled under his breath. His friend behind him, however, looked amazed by the young woman in front of them.  
“Uh, yeah, Merlin is right. Yup, my name, uh, yeah.” His hands were now buried in his pockets, eyes focused on Morgana, a little shaking in fact.  
“Okay, fuck.” He took his hands out of his pocket and buried his face in them instead.  
“Listen, I don’t even know your name, which is horrible, or _his_ name, which is even worse, considering what I’ve done, but I’m really sorry for what happened yesterday. I was compl-”  
“No fucking way!” The boy was interrupted by the other one behind him, the one he was in a conversation with just a few moments ago.  
“ _That is the girl from last night?_ ” He screamed.  
“Gwaine, please stop”, sighed Merlin and buried his face in his hands again.  
“I can’t understand you, Merls. Why would you snog a dude - why would you snog her _boyfriend_ \- when _she_ is standing _right there!_ ”  
“Shut up, Gwaine!”  
“Your gay ass can’t appreciate beautiful girls, really. You should have taken me with you-”  
“ _Shut up!_ ” Merlin rammed his elbow into Gwaine’s side.  
“Not helpful, Gwaine! I’m trying to apologize to her for kissing her boyfriend really drunk and not get you a new one night stand!”  
“My what now?” She raised her eyebrows, oppressing a laughter. Merlin looked uncertain now, after her puzzled question.  
“Your.. boyfriend? The one I kissed yesterday? Which I am again so so sorry for, by the way”  
Now she couldn’t hold back her laughter.  
“Ew!” She shouted, wiping tears of laughter out of her eyes.  
“Arthur is my _brother!_ ”  
“Oh fucking hell. That is so relieving, but also very very embarrassing. I still hope I didn’t bother him? Oh good god, did he have a girlfriend?” Fear stood in his eyes again, the woman quickly shook her head.  
“Oh, no, no, Honey! Arthur is single and _gay!_ ”, she exclaimed.  
“Wait, what? For real? You are not shitting me, are you?” He looked seriously troubled, trying to believe what she just told him. No wonder, that was possibly the biggest coincidence ever.  
“Yes, he is! And let me tell you, but don’t you dare tell him, I told you this, so he told me-”  
“You are saying ‘told’ too often, I don’t catch up.” They laughed.  
“Yeah, sorry, well, what I wanted to say was that he _liked_ it. And he would really like to see you again.” He again looked very unsure.  
“You mean, the boy I almost ran over, who I spilled beer all over his shirt _and_ kissed him as an excuse wants to actually _see me again?_ ”  
“How are you still thinking of the boy, Emrys? Like, there is a _goddess_ right in front of you!”  
Gwaine hadn’t stopped staring at Morgana and she began to feel a little uncomfortable under his gaze.  
“First of all, I am so gay, you could sit down Rihanna in front of me, naked, and I would only care for her music, okay? Second of all, you really didn’t see the boy, Gwaine. He is _smoking hot_. Like twice as hot as you, _at least_. And third of all, stop ogling…?” Merlin turned to look at Morgana, the question almost written on his face.  
“Morgana”, she said smiling.  
“Right, stop ogling Morgana! Yes, she looks good, but she’s not some kind of prize and neither are you some kind of predator about to catch your meal for tonight.”  
“Fine, Emrys! Stop being such a bitch, man.” The other man mumbled, turning around and walking away, seeming pissed off, but Merlin knew he wasn’t for real.  
“Wow, you are savage, Merlin! I like that! Thanks for telling him off, it started to creep me out a little, to be honest.”  
“Oh, yeah sorry about him. He is a real creep with girls like most of the time, but when you befriend him he is actually really nice. He just doesn’t know where the line ends sometimes.”  
“God, a feminist gay with excellent taste in music and style _and_ he’s savage! You are a dream, almost too good get corrupted by my brother. No, I’m just kidding he’s wonderful, a bit of an idiot sometimes, but still very lovable. Honestly, having you as my brother-in-law would be a daydream come true.”  
“I feel very honoured, Morgana, but brother-in-law may be a bit too much of an expectation for now. I didn’t even have a real conversation with your brother yet. But if he’s anything like you, then I bet he’s a real prince charming. I mean he _can kiss_ , as far as I know.”  
All previous signs of fear and shyness were gone now, Merlin was a sweet and confident young man, just as Morgana hoped he would be.  
“You are too kind, Merlin, how are you real?”  
“You tell me! Am I?” Both started laughing again. Morgana practically decided already, that Arthur just _had_ to love him, like she did already. If they’re not going to be the perfect couple, her intuition was betraying her big time.  
“So, Arthur – was it Arthur?”  
“Yes, that’s his name”  
“Okay, So, Arthur really wants to meet me?”  
“Oh Darling, _Yes!_ You know what? How about I arrange a date for you two?”  
“A date? When? How? You really think that’ll work?” Suddenly Merlin seemed shy and nervous again. _How cute_.  
“Look, are you going to the last concert tonight?” She gave him an encouraging smile, making him nod slowly in agreement.  
“Yes, I planned to”  
“Good, Arthur likes that band. It’s not his favourite, so he won’t be too distracted, but he really likes it. How about I make him go with you?”  
“That sounds good, perfect actually. A dream first date, I’d call it.” A sheepish smile appeared on his face.  
“Perfect! However I won’t tell him it’s a date, okay? He’ll just be mad at me for talking to you about him and not telling him earlier and he will be nervous or call it off”, she rolled her eyes annoyed, “so it will be a surprise, if that is fine with you?” As Morgana looked at him with those big hopeful eyes, it was already decided. There was no way Merlin could say no to that.  
“Yeah, of course. I just hope it’s a pleasant surprise”, he said cheerfully.  
“So you’ll just go the concert with other friends or…?”, he asked curiously, putting his hands in his pockets again.  
“Well, no, I don’t know. I’ll see what I do. Arthur and I came alone here, so there are no other friends, but I’ll be fine. Don’t you dare calling it off because of me!”  
“I wouldn’t dare!” He jokingly raised his hands in the air, as if encountered by the police.  
“But I also can’t leave a beautiful young woman alone on such a wonderful night. Meeting other people here may seem easy, but there are a lot of dicks, especially when confronted by such a gorgeous femme fatale!”  
“Oh stop it now, that’s really too much.” She laughed out loud.  
“No, no! I insist you get to know my friends. They will _love_ you and I bet Gwen will be happy to not be the only girl in the group anymore. Of course only if you are okay with Gwaine being there as well. Although he’s inappropriate often, Lance and Elyan and especially Gwen keep him in line. They are still teaching him how to behave, but honestly, he’s not that bad.”  
“It’s fine Merlin! That is so so sweet of you and I would love to meet your friends, really.”  
“Well then come over! Our tents are just over there and they are all awake”  
“What now?”  
“Yeah, why not? I mean, if Arthur is waiting for you that’s fine, you don’t have to-”  
“Oh no, he will sleep for at least another one and a half hours. I’d love to meet them now!”  
“Then come on!”  
Not only Morgana was excited, Merlin was, too, and all of his friends. Everyone was so nice and welcoming and even Gwaine kept it appropriate this time, he was really actually nice. She loved them already and they loved her, too. They also found out another great coincidence – they all live in the _same damn city!_  
Morgana was sure she must be dreaming, nothing that great can happen just like that. Pure happiness was what she felt at the moment and she was excited for her brother to experience it very soon, too. To be specific, he was about to just this evening and then hopefully for a long time in the future as well.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took fairly long for me to update! But here it is now. I think after this there will be like 2 more chapters, except if I'll get struck by more ideas or something.  
> I am not completely satisfied with it, but I hope you will like it!  
> Have fun reading!

Arthur woke up alone in the tent, nothing unusual so far. As he got out of the tent, he was still alone, which was slightly unusual, but nothing to worry about. Morgana could just be on the toilet, or showering or getting food or water as far as he knows.  
45 minutes passed, in which Arthur got ready for the day, until his sister appeared again.  
“Oh Arthur, you’re awake! Sorry, I was just getting some water, but got stuck in a conversation with some other campers.”, she explained as she let herself fall into one of the camping chairs.  
“Okay, that’s cool. Were they nice?”, he asked with a smug smile.  
“Yes, they were indeed. But off topic: what bands are we going to see today? What’s the plan?”  
So they continued discussing there daily plan, both extremely excited, but little did Arthur know that Morgana was excited because of something entirely different than him, and that his plans for the night would be a lot different than he planned.

“Come on Arthur! We need to go! The band is playing in 45 minutes!”, Morgana complained as she tried to pull his brother out of his chair.  
“Yes, in 45 minutes, so relax, there’s plenty of time left.”, he replied, visibly annoyed that his sister disturbed him relaxing.  
“But I want to be there early enough.”  
“Okay, but _why_. They’re not even one of your favourites!”  
“Don’t be a lazy ass and just come. It’s going to be worth it, I promise!”  
She looked at him with those big puppy eyes and _by the gods_ Arthur just couldn’t deny, which is why he found himself being dragged over the camping grounds by her, not even understanding why she was in such a hurry, almost no one was near the stage yet.  
Just as they reached one of the beer trucks, she finally let go of his wrist, immediately making Arthur sigh in relief.  
“I really don’t understand why you are hustling like this. What could be so important?”, he asked a little out of breath.  
“Sorry, brother, but I have people to meet. Have fun!”, she replied, gave him a peck on the cheek and turned around to leave at last. Arthur stared at her in utter disbelief, before he realized what she just declared, anger rose up inside him.  
“What? What do you mean? Where the fuck are you going Morgana?”, he demanded to know.  
“Like I said, I’m going to meet my new friends and attend the concert with them!” She smiled innocently.  
“So you are just going to abandon me here?”  
“Yes, I will, but I have a very good reason to do so and you will soon be thanking me for it.”  
A last wink and Morgana disappeared in the crowd.  
“I won’t thank you _for shit!_ You’re leaving me _alone!_ ”, he shouted after her, but it was too late, she was already gone and out of his sight.  
He was about to angrily kick something, as a soft voice from behind his back interrupted his thoughts.  
“Well, not completely alone.” The man’s voice said and Arthur froze, his heart beating so fast and loud, he was scared the man was able to hear it.  
“Merlin!”, he shouted surprised, since the man spotted him already, there was no point in avoiding the talk. Still he immediately felt the need to smash his head against a wall. _How is he going to explain to the man, that for some reason he already knew his name, although the man never mentioned it himself? He will think Arthur is some kind of stalker or creep. Good job, Arthur._  
“Yeah, it’s me.” The man simply said, calming Arthur’s fears instantly, by showing a heart warming smile. A nervous laugh left Merlin before asking  
“So, just to be sure that Morgana didn’t lie, you _are_ Arthur, right?”  
_God he knows my name_ , Arthur screamed in his mind, but on the outside, he just nodded and smiled.  
"Yes, I am, and Morgana is also her real name, so no lies. Did she send you here?" The words came out of his mouth impressively calm, for that he was a nervous wreck inside.  
"I wouldn't say she send me, but-"  
_Oh great. He’s just here because Morgana told him to be._  
"- she kind of arranged it. I can now only hope she didn't lie about you either." Merlin smiled a bit wider, reaching his eyes and making them glow in excitement. It looked _beautiful._  
"Oh god, what did she tell you about me?" Arthur felt his heart sink and his limbs shiver. However, Merlin smiled, he said he _hoped_ Morgana told him the truth so it couldn’t possibly be very bad, could it?  
"Just good things, no need to worry. But let's talk about something else than your sister, eh? Want a beer?"  
Just now Arthur noticed the two beers in Merlin's hands and he couldn't help but study them, as he reached for one of the plastic cups.  
"Okay, so the band won't play for another half an hour, want to sit down and talk or something? I mean, if you want to." Merlin's cheeks turned faintly pink.  
"Yes of course! I would love that, really." Arthur smiled back at him brightly.

The festival grounds were dry, but not as hot anymore, as the sun was already gone behind the hills. However, there was more than enough light given by the stage and the many trucks around them, so they would have no problem gazing at each other.  
"So is this your first Festival?" Merlin asked, sitting down on the grounds and patting the earth next to him, ordering Arthur to sit down next to him, and he followed.  
"Yes, my first big one. I've been to smaller ones but nothing that could compete with this." His view went over the many heads of people drinking, dancing, talking, laughing and again he remembered how happy he was to be here.  
"Oh so you're a newcomer! That's so fun, and already with camping! How's it going? The camping is one of the most fun parts, you know. Hanging with your friends, getting drunk. Mostly getting drunk, though." Merlin laughed a little, but quickly got back to looking at Arthur and curiously waiting for his answer. It was rare, that someone was so curious about the blonde man’s life, looking at him like he's the most interesting thing in the world. Arthur tried not to blush under Merlin's soft blue eyes, so he focused on answering.  
"It’s going well, but it’s not the most fun part for me. Maybe that’s because it’s only my sister and me here and getting drunk with only her alone can get quite boring, she drinks me under the table. Maybe it is also because blokes keep trying to get Morgana to show her tits and they can get quite violent, if she refuses, so I need to step in and, yeah, ugh. And that girls keep trying to _violently_ flirt with me, it’s just really annoying, you know?”  
“Awe that’s so sad!”, the man exclaimed disappointedly, “You need to come with more friends, it has mostly advantages. Gwen often gets talked to by the blokes, too, but we’re like four dudes protecting one badass girl herself, _and_ one of them is her boyfriend and a trained kick boxer, so no one comes far. Your sister is in good hands and well protected, but I bet she’s a real badass, too. Though I can only imagine how annoying girls constantly flirting with you must be, but if they are only half as bad as the dudes, it’s already horrible.” Merlin looked at him with pity, but his eyes were still shining.  
“Oh so Morgana is with your friends right now?”  
“Yes, she is. Don’t worry they’re cool and _if_ she needs protection, she will be protected, I promise.”  
“Oh yeah, no worries I believe you, if Morgana likes them, they’re usually cool. So, uh, anyways don’t girls flirt with you?” Arthur asked in disbelief, knowing well he jumped between the topics, but he couldn't help it. The question burned his insides, dying to be asked and Arthur obeyed his guts.  
“I mean you are really handsome, so why wouldn’t the girls flirt with you?”  
Merlin laughed, cheeks flushing red.  
“Thank you! Well, it’s not that some haven’t tried, but you know, I’m usually really open about my sexuality, which means that I, like, always have some kind of rainbow on me. I even have a flag tattooed on me so that might be another reason.” Another laugh.  
“So… do you get stopped by blokes?”, Arthur asked curiously, stopping himself from asking Merlin about all his tattoos, he saved that for later. Arthur never had the chance to be completely open about being gay, because of his father mostly, but his job may play a part in that, too, as well as his overall cowardice towards coming, being and staying out, so Merlin’s openness amazed him.  
“Fairly often, yes. It’s not that different from what I’ve witnessed from straight people, though. No big deal, I guess.” The man folded his hands in his lap, seeming a little nervous, but happy.  
“But it does take a lot of courage to be so open about it.”, the blonde man interjected.  
“I’m just used to it.” He smiled brightly once more, Arthur felt like he’ll never get enough of this smile.  
They continued bantering about unimportant things, still interesting enough to have a lively conversation.

After some time a bloke sat down in front of them. Arthur looked at Merlin to see if he recognized the dude, if that’s one of his friends, but Merlin just looked back at him in amused confusion.  
“Hey – uh – sorry guys. I kind of lost my people and don’t know where to go, so… is it fine if I stay here with you for a while? I really don’t know where to go”, the bloke explained, clearly drunk. He reminded Arthur of Merlin, when he had been drunk the day before, just that this one wasn’t by far as charming as the raven-haired man had been. He was annoying and interrupting their nice atmosphere, it could have been described as private. No wish was bigger than the one for this young man to leave them, but Arthur, of course, didn’t have the courage to stand up to him, mostly because he feared Merlin would think he’s being rude. Despite that, he didn’t even have to, because Merlin took the matter into his own hands. Well, basically he took _Arthur’s_ hand.  
“Sorry, man. No time nor space for you here. My _boyfriend_ and I were just about to leave anyways. Good day, mate!”, he said with a faked smile as if it’s the most normal thing to tell, stood up and pulled Arthur away with him.  
“God, that was so rude!”, he eventually said when they were out of the stranger’s sight. Merlin was really annoyed by the man, to Arthur’s confusion, who didn’t even process yet, that he was still holding hands with Merlin.  
“Why? He just searched for some place to stay.”, he suggested.  
Merlin stopped abruptly, looking at Arthur as if he just told him, he thought the Eiffel Tower wasn’t real.  
“Am I missing something?”, Arthur asked cautiously.  
“You really didn’t see how into you he was? He stared at you the whole way walking towards us, running like three people over and basically ignoring my presence. I don’t know about you, but where I come from, it’s very rude to go ahead and try to steal someone’s date.”  
After he threw another glance over the shoulder to make sure the other man didn’t follow them, he just shook it off and smiled again, while Arthur was still thinking about what Merlin just said. _Someone’s date._ Now that Merlin mentioned it, the stranger sat down really close to Arthur and stared at him quite uncomfortably. _Someone’s date._  
“Is this a date for you?”, he bluntly asked before he could stop himself.  
Merlin froze up and looked at Arthur sheepishly.  
“I hoped it would be”, he said quietly. “But if you’re not comfortable with that, that’s fi-”  
“No! No, no. No, I would love that.” Arthur interrupted quickly, making Merlin sigh in relief, directly followed by a soft punch on Arthur’s shoulder.  
“Don’t scare me like that! I thought I’d need to sink into ground, man. Rude.”  
Arthur laughed at Merlin pouting and just pulled him forward into the masses of people gathering at the stage, to find a good place to watch the concert, which was about to start, the encounter with the weird man already forgotten, only each other on their minds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments would be appreciated, thank you for readind!


	4. Chapter 4

“Is here fine with you?”, Merlin asked, standing quite in the middle of the crowd, beaming at the stage in front of them.

“It’s perfect Merlin, don’t worry.”, Arthur chuckled, following Merlin’s gaze at the stage.

“Have you seen this band live before?”, Merlin asks curiously, turning his head in Arthur’s direction again.

“No”, he simply replied.

“Oh then it’s about time! They’re really good live, you know.”

Arthur just grinned and nodded, trusting Merlin’s words. And he was proven right to do so.

The band  _was_ really good live, a lot better than listening to them over headphones.  Of course, Merlin’s presence made all of it a lot more exciting and fun. As the place was really crowded, they stood close to each other, brushing arms and hands and legs and hips fairly often, to Arthur's delight. He wasn’t sure if this weird feeling in his stomach was because of the concert or because of Merlin, probably both.

Two songs before the concert would have ended, Merlin suddenly grabbed Arthur's wrist and pulled him out of the crowd.

“Why are we leaving?”, Arthur shouted against the loud music, almost not hearing himself, but Merlin seemed to hear him anyway ~~probably due to his large ears~~. 

“Trust me, if you wait until the very end, you’ll need ages to leave the grounds and get back to the tents.”, the man shouted back.

“I also had an idea.”, he added in a normal volume again, as they eventually left the loud and crowded area.

“What idea?” Arthur felt more excitement rise in his body, it was a miracle he didn’t collapse yet, or at least trembling.

“It’s a surprise.” A cheeky smile decorated the gorgeous man’s face, making it even more beautiful.

Arthur just nodded in agreement, as he didn’t trust his voice to form an actual normal sentence without embarrassing  him self . So his date continued to lead him off the festival grounds and to the tents. 

“If we are just going to be at your tent, it’s a horrible surprise”, the blonde man noted and laughed as Merlin dramatically fake-gasped, clenching his shirt where his heart was placed with his free hand.

“How dare you!”, he started, acting offended, “I would _never_ do something so imprudent, _please._ Have some faith in me!” 

Arthur just laughed a bit more, trusting the slightly taller man to lead the way.

He suddenly stopped, causing Arthur to bump into him.

“Just a quick question. We _are_ going to pass the tents of my friends and as I know them they’re back already, your sister included. Do you want to stop by and talk to her or the others first or do you want to go straight on to the surprise?” Merlin turned around to look at Arthur, completely ignoring the fact that he just ran into him.

“Uh, well, I don’t need to see Morgana, at least not now. I’ll see her long enough soon after, and I’d be glad to meet your friends, but it can wait, though. I’m very curious what the surprise is.”

“Good, surprise then! Like that answer, good choice”, Merlin winked, “I have to stop by for like a minute anyways, though, I need to steal some stuff from them, so the surprise will work.”

Arthur just laughed again and they carried on walking for about six minutes ( _not that Arthur was counting them to calm himself do_ _wn_ _, of course not_ )  until he could clearly make out his sister’s voice and a bunch of others very near to them. 

“Hey Guys!”, Merlin called out and the five people in a circle looked up at them. Arthur felt his face burning as Morgana looked at him with a shit-eating grin on her face.

“Merls! You’re back! I missed you!”, one man, unknown to Arthur, shouted, hugging Merlin tightly, as soon as he stood up. Arthur’s chest tightened and he turned his look away from the two hugging men, finding Morgana’s gaze again, who was grinning even wider now. She mouthed “You’re jealous!” at him and he rolled his eyes, but, to be honest, he was.

“You’re drunk, Gwaine. Sit down again, I’m going to be gone in a few minutes again anyway.”, Merlin laughed and pushed the man, Gwaine apparently, away and sat him down on the chair again.

“Oh, yeah, if you haven’t already figured it out, that’s Arthur!”, he added and continued to search for something in the camp.

“Uh, hi.”, Arthur said cautiously and smiled at the round of nice looking people.

“Ah, so you are the boy who-”, the only girl of the group, besides Morgana, started. She must be Gwen, Arthur remembered Merlin talking about her.

“Don’t you dare Guinevere!”, Merlin interrupted from behind a tent and Gwen laughed.

Arthur was about to ask what she meant, of course he was curious what Merlin told his friends about him, as Merlin appeared at his side again.

“By the way, those are Gwaine, Lance, Gwen and Elyan.”, he explained, pointing to each person as he mentioned their name. Arthur smiled politely and everyone smiled back.

“’Kay, we can go!”, Merlin said smiling.

“Alright”, Arthur responded and waved the group good bye, throwing Morgana an extra wide smile, then he quickly followed Merlin through the tents, excited to see their destination.

Merlin carried what seemed to be two or three blankets clenched under his left arm and in his hands he held an ultimate sum of four cans of beer.

“I hope you didn’t expect too much”, the boy said as they arrived at a car, a black pick up truck to be specific. Merlin quickly climbed onto the loading area and seemed to search for some kind of switch. As the _click_ sound occurred, a chain of lights taped to the truck lit up and bathed the surroundings in a warm light.

Arthur only realized how awe-struck he’d stared when Merlin spoke to him, causing him to snap out of his moment of dissociation.

“Arthur? You wanna like… come up here or just keep standing down there like statue?”, he asked beaming down at the blonde man. Surrounded by that soft fairy lights glow, Merlin was even more gorgeous.

“Ah, yes, I mean no.”, he replied quickly and thankfully took Merlin’s hand, which he’d offered, to climb onto the loading area as well.

Merlin had spread two, as it turned out he brought a total of three, blankets on the cold metal and put the last one as a replacement for pillows on the top.

They sat down together and Merlin handed him one of the cans, while already drinking out of his own with a _fucking rainbow straw._ As Arthur looked closely, it wasn’t even beer, but Jack Daniels.

Merlin had noticed his oppressed laughter and grinned proudly.

“You can laugh if you want”, he said and Arthur did. He laughed for three minutes straight and Merlin’s grin only grew bigger.

“You want one, too?”, he asked, as the blonde one finally stopped laughing, wiping away his tears.

“You really are the ultimate gay, aren’t you?”, he asked rhetorically. “Of course I fucking want one, what kind of question is that.”

“I feel like that is a _great_ compliment, so yes I am the ultimate gay.”

As they were both drinking from their cans through rainbow coloured straws, Arthur remembered the tattoos.

“You said something about a rainbow tattoo earlier. Can I see it?”, he blurted out.

Even in this faint light he could make out that Merlin was blushing.

“I got two, actually”, he confessed.

He extended his arm, showing off his wrist on which seven little raindrops were tattooed, each in one colour of the rainbow. Arthur wondered how he overlooked that one, for that he felt as if he checked out every visible inch of Merlin.

Arthur just smiled as am answer, gently stroking the warm skin once.

“And the second one?”, he asked softly smiling, the boy answered by blushing more deeply.

He turns his back to Arthur, who almost thought he’d offended Merlin, but then he took off his shirt and Arthur was now glad Merlin couldn’t see how he stared at his slightly muscled, but mostly tattooed back. A big part of his back was covered by a lying, rainbow coloured dragon.

“I wouldn’t change a thing”, Arthur quietly read the words aloud, which were written along the wings in small block letters and traced them with his fingers. Delighted he noticed the way Merlin shuddered under his touch and he cautiously traced a few more tattoo lines.

“I love it”, he said eventually.

“Yeah, me too”, Merlin replied and Arthur could swear he was him smiling.

“Does it have a deeper meaning?”

“When I was a child I used to have nightmares about knights slaying dragons. I woke up crying a lot and my Dad always came to calm me down. I told him how I hated that the supposed to be good knights have done nothing but slaughtering the dragons, although they did no harm and tried to live a peaceful life. And my Dad told me one night that there are always bad people who don’t let others live their otherwise peaceful life, just because they are what they are. And then he asked me why it’s always the dragon getting killed and not the knights. I told him that I don’t know and he told me it’s because the knights establish their power, show it off and act like they are superior. The dragons let themselves be intimidated by them and get slaughtered thinking they’d have no chance anyways, but this is not the case. As soon as the dragons realize how powerful they really are and how little damage those knights can cause if they fight back, it’s over for the bad knights, because they can only act like they are superior, but they aren’t and never will be. After that night the dragons in my dreams started fighting back against the knights and good knights joined the dragon’s side. As I grew older and discovered that I’m gay, I found it was a really good metaphor for minorities and being queer. You know, the dragons being the minorities, the good knights the supporting people who aren’t a minority and the bad knights all the homophobic and racist and sexist and so on people. And the phrase is just there because so many people asked me ‘But you’d rather be straight, wouldn’t you?’ so yeah, that’s that.”

While Merlin told his breath taking story, Arthur traced the lines of his different tattoos, enjoying Merlin’s warm skin and reactions to his touch.

“Your father seems to be a wise man.”, he eventually replied. “It’s a wonderful meaning and metaphor.”

“Oh yeah he can be really wise, but he can also be full of bullshit.”, Merlin responded and both break out in laughter.

“He once told me the moon is made of cheese and I thought there must be space cows to make that cheese until I was ten! Really, he can be quite a living nightmare.”

Arthur snorted and hold his hurting stomach, because he had to laugh so hard.

“ _Space cows_ ”, he wheezed. “Where did you think they live?”

“I don’t know! I thought they would just fly around in space suits and shit, I didn’t think it through, I was young!”, he defended himself, but had to laugh as well.

“But as we talk of space”, Merlin interjected, finally turning around again. To Arthur’s dismay, he put his shirt on again, before he lied down on the blankets, his head on the improvised blanket-pillow.

“Lie down”, he commanded gently, patting the space next to him.

As soon as Arthur obeyed, Merlin turned off the fairy lights and suddenly it was almost completely dark.

“Look up”, he whispered.

Arthur did as he was told and was stunned. Absolutely fascinated. Thousands and thousands of stars were sprinkled over the black matter, the milky way was almost clearly visible.

They were lying in silence, quietly admiring the beauty of the star lit night sky, until after a few minutes the dark haired boy started to show and explain the different visible star signs.

“How do you know so much about this?”, Arthur asked eventually.

“I study astronomy and I do have a weak spot for astrology, as long as it’s not that ‘if you’re a taurus you’re a cheater!! And pisces and aries can never be together!!’ bullshit.”

“I may start to have thing for this, too. Or at least for people with that kind of knowledge.”

“Well that’s nice. Did I discover your first kink, Arthur? How romantic.”

And thus they started laughing again.

They continued to talk about a lot of things, laughed even more than they talked, but eventually they fell silent.

“Hey Merlin?”, Arthur whispered into the dark, leaning on his forearm in order to look down on Merlin.

“Yes?”, Merlin asked, opening his eyes again. Due to the fairy lights, which they switched on again, his eyes appeared more golden than blue.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For drunkenly kissing me. For talking to my sister. For this whole evening. And especially for _this._ ”, the blonde boy explained. Before Merlin had the chance to answer, Arthur bend down and carefully pressed his lips on Merlin’s, who didn’t hesitate a second to kiss back.

It was slow and unhurried, like testing the waters.

Arthur’s hand found it’s place on Merlin’s waist, who had one hand in his blonde hair and one on his neck.

Arthur gently caressed the skin under Merlin’s shirt, pushing it up just a bit.

They parted after minutes, cheeks flushed but a content smile on their faces.

“You know, it’s not cold outside at all. We could stay here the night, if you want to”, Merlin whispered, their faces were still so close, that Arthur could feel his hot breath on his lips.

“Oh, I don’t think I’m ready yet to go that far, Mer-”

“No! That’s not what I meant, me neither. I meant really sleeping here. But you don’t need to, of course.”

“Merlin calm down. I’d like that.”

They smiled and Merlin kissed him again.

“Remind me to thank your sister for setting us up.”, he said between kisses and Arthur laughed a little, as he scooted closer to Merlin.

“Noted.”, he whispered against the boy’s bare neck skin, sucking a mark on it shortly after.

“You know that my friends will think we had wild sex tonight, right?”

Arthur chuckled.

“Let them think what they want. We know what really happened and I couldn’t have wished for a better first date.”

“Damn right we do.”

They kissed one last time, before they fell asleep cuddled together under the clear sky, butterflies in their stomachs and the beautiful concert air in their lungs that had brought them together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the end, but if this gets really good feedback I may write more. Would anyone be interested in a sequel or more chapters or so?  
> Well either way, it has been exciting to write this story, as this is the first story with more than one chapter I finished!  
> I really really hope you liked it!  
> I do want a tattoo like Merlin has now, too, though. I'm also kind of proud of the meaning behind it, it's a cute idea.
> 
> Okay you already convinced me;; there's going to be an epilogue 
> 
> So yeah, Comments and Kudos are greatly appreciated!  
> I would be honoured if you'd look at my other works, too!  
> Goodbye for now! <3  
> p.s. If you wanna find me on social media: my tumblr is letsawesomepossum


	5. Epilogue

Loud bird chirping and something shifting woke Arthur up. The sun was shining brightly, making him grunt and close his eyes again after opening them for two seconds.

“Ah, I see. Awake now, too, lazy daisy?”

As Merlin’s soft voice reached him, his heart instantly started beating faster and an uncontrollable smile crept up his face and wouldn’t leave.

“What time is it?”, he asked instead of greeting the other man, who sat up already and proceeded to stretch.

“Like, eleven or so”

Arthur watched delightedly as Merlin’s shirt slightly shifted upwards, causing parts of his back and stomach to be exposed.

_God I’m gay,_ Arthur thought, his gaze still locked on Merlin’s in tattoos covered pale skin.

“Yeah and not really awake, either”, Merlin replied with a smug grin on his face, Arthur turned red instantly. That’s how crazy Merlin made him, he couldn’t even control what he was saying out loud and what he was thinking.

“No! What are you doing?”, Arthur exclaimed, sounding like a kicked puppy. He didn’t want Merlin to stand up so soon.

“I am getting up, what does it look like? I desperately need a shower, I feel filthy because of all the dust here.”

“Does that mean I have to get up, too?”

“Not necessarily, if you fancy staying here alone and if you find the way back on you own, you can stay”

“You could just say yes, you know”, Arthur huffed slightly annoyed, Merlin replied with laughter.

“Then get your ass up! My friends are probably awake already, they’ll love to ask you about everything that happened, while I’m showering”, Merlin exclaimed cheerfully.

Arthur gulped and just answered “oh god”.

They hold hands as they walked back together to the tents.

Merlin was right, his friends were up already and so was Morgana. Either she came back this morning or she never left, it didn’t really matter to Arthur. He just tried to avoid her gaze, he knew already how it’d look. Gwaine was the first one to greet them.

“Ah, you’re finally under the living as well! Unusual for you to sleep so long, Emrys”

“You see, it’s easier when you have a comfortable pillow to sleep on”, Merlin replied without hesitation, throwing Arthur a short cheerful grin.

“Aha, pillow. Cute nickname. So can we assume you two had a nice _pillow fight_ as well?”, Elyan curiously chimed in.

“Don’t listen to those Idiots, Arthur”, said Merlin, as he let go of his hand in order search for his things, so he can go and have a shower.

“But did you now?”, Gwen interjected.

Arthur was about to answer, but Merlin was quicker.

“Who knows”

“Common Emrys, spill the tea”, Morgana responded. Everyone seemed desperate to know and Merlin looked like he had great fun watching them almost beg. He just kept silent, gathered his things and enjoyed the suffering from his friends.

“So, I’m going to take a shower, don’t be too hard on Arthur guys. I’m looking especially at you Gwaine, Gwen and Morgana. Lance, I’m counting on you to keep them in line”

“I’m not a helpless rat, Merlin. I _can_ defend myself, you know”, Arthur interjected.

“I’m sure you can, but you don’t know my friends yet. They’re _ruthless._ Anyway, I’ll get going, catch you later”

And with that Merlin vanished, but not before he tousled through Arthur’s hair a last time, making it look even more messy than it did already. Arthur sighed as he watched Merlin leave.

“Damn, that bad already? Emrys sure as hell got you falling quick” Gwaine looked at him with some kind of expression, Arthur couldn’t identify.

“Oh shut up”, he responded “it’s not that bad”

“Arthur, you are head over heels for him”, Morgana stated.

“Is it that obvious? Oh fucking hell this will be over faster than I want it to be, won’t it?”, Arthur asked anxiously, a pained expression on his face.

“ _Are you nuts?_ ”, Gwen shouted offended. “The only way for it to be over is if you decide to abandon Merlin on the spot. And I do not recommend that, because if you break his heart, everyone of us will hunt you down and make you pay for it.”

“Gwen! That’s so dark! I love it. And I promise, he won’t break his heart or else he’s going to live in fear of me”, Morgana replied, as Arthur still stood there defeated, not knowing what to respond.

As he finally found his voice again, all he could manage to say was “do you mean he likes me back?”

“Dumbass, of course he does! Why else would he spend the night with you?” Lance looked at him with raised eyebrows.

“We didn’t- you know we _hadn’t-”,_ the blonde man stammered helplessly.

“I knew it! Merlin wouldn’t destroy something so precious to him that quick”, Elyan exclaimed and grinned proudly.

“How do you know I’m that precious to him? How do you know he really likes me back?”, Arthur continued to ask. He couldn’t wrap his head around the fact, that apparently this gorgeous man liked him back.

“Oh dear, he really does. That pick up truck date is a tradition of his and he only invites a partner there, if he truly has feelings for him. He never invited someone there that fast, though” Gwen smiled at him fondly, causing Arthur to become flustered.

“Okay, that’s enough for now. No more love chitty chat, we wanna get to know you Arthur, as we will have to spend a lot of time with you in the future, as it seems. Please, don’t be a git. So, you hungry?”, Gwaine interrupted the weird atmosphere and Arthur was forever grateful, also because his stomach started growling very loudly.

 

They just finished eating as Merlin returned from the shower.

The conversations with Merlin’s friends, or rather his new friends, were super fun and Arthur's stomach hurt from laughing so hard for like half an hour straight.

“Penguins _can’t_ fly you moron!”, Lance shouted at Gwaine, who had tears in his eyes.

“But, _just imagine!_ They’d look so ridiculous with their pebbles and small wings and butler outfits!” Gracefully, or not, one might argue about that, he slipped out of his chair and collapsed laughing onto the floor.

Arthur was the first one to see Merlin return, but he was unable to say something. He was completely stunned, the view took his breath away. Merlin wore a fucking _crop top._ And he looked fucking _hot_ in it. How did he manage that?

Morgana followed his gaze and smiled brightly.

“Merlin!”, she shouted towards him “we almost thought you got lost or drowned in the shower!”

“You wish! You won’t get rid of me that quickly. No the cue was fucking long, too many people wanted to shower. Maybe because it’s the last day, who knows”, Merlin replied and stopped next to Arthur, who still hadn’t managed to say something.

“Crop tops do look good on you”, he croaked out eventually and wished the earth would swallow him whole.

“Why thank you, I hoped you’d like it. It exposed my tattoos quite good, doesn’t it?”

Merlin even made an exaggerated pirouette, showing the back of his top, which was almost _open_ showing off his dragon tattoo quite well.

He gave Arthur a heart-warming smile and leaned in to give him a soft kiss on the lips. Arthur couldn’t deny the fact that is heart was racing marathons at the moment and he was more than glad, that Merlin wasn’t shy.

“So, what’s the plan for today guys?”, Merlin eventually asked his friends, who seemed to have stared at them, smiling, as they kissed, but no one minded or said something.

They proceeded to spend the day all together at the festival, as it was the last day already. Although they walked around as a group, Merlin and Arthur were inseparable, never left each others side. They kissed a lot, held hands and laughed even more. It was the best day ever for both of them.

Sometime in the evening they decided that Morgana and Arthur will drive with Merlin and his friends back to their city, as they had cars and Morgana and Arthur would have to take the train home, which was definitely unpleasant. They also discussed their current sleeping situation for like two hours, in order for Merlin and Arthur to sleep together in one tent. They did end up together in one tent, Gwen and Lance in another, Gwaine and Elyan in one and Morgana had one on her own, although it had been hard to convince Gwaine and Elyan to sleep in one, however eventually everyone agreed. Arthur felt like he arrived in heaven.

 

On their way back to the city, Merlin drove the pick up. They made several stops and changed their seating orders, but Merlin and Arthur stayed in the pick up truck the whole way.

Alone time was hard to find in a small moving vehicle, but they saw their chance, when they made another stop at a gas station and everyone left the care besides them.

“Hey, Merlin?”, Arthur asked a little nervous, his gaze locked on Merlin’s wonderful blue eyes.

“Yes?”

“Do you want to be my boyfriend, like, officially? I mean we already act like it for two days, but I thought.. you know. To establish it” He dropped his gaze to hide his flustered face, but Merlin lifted his chin up again and smiled fondly at him, happiness glowing in his eyes.

“I would love that, Arthur. I’d love to be your boyfriend”, he replied and softly placed his slightly chapped lips on Arthur’s.

All doubts got brushed off as they started kissing, first slow and romantic, but it got more desperate as they continued. They had to stop eventually, the others came back and Merlin had to drive the car, but the kiss had been a promise. A promise to continue this as soon as they returned. A promise that this wasn’t the end, but the start. And they were _so excited_ for what was yet to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! This is officially the end now! I did have a lot of fun writing it and I'm glad quite a few people liked it!  
> Not quite sure wether I'll write a sequel to this or not, I don't have too many ideas for one at the moment, but I might still get them and do it.  
> However I do have another Merlin fic right now and other short stories are planned as well (all Merthur haha)
> 
> Comments and Kudos would be greatly appreciated!   
> My tumblr is @/letsawesomepossum if someone is interested
> 
> Bye! Thanks for reading!  
> \- Saturning


End file.
